Jurgen Klopp has warned his Liverpool side to beware of 'wounded' Chelsea as he prepares to go head-to-head with Jose Mourinho.

The German takes his players to Stamford Bridge for the Saturday lunchtime kick-off with the Blues on a run of just one win in their last seven matches in all competitions.

Mourinho's side have endured a disastrous start to the season and currently lie 15th in the Premier League with just 11 points from 10 games following last week's 2-1 defeat by West Ham.

German Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp pulls a peculiar face at his press conference on Friday

Klopp has warned his side to beware of 'wounded' Chelsea as he prepares to go head-to-head with the Blues

Klopp is looking to mastermind a third victory against Jose Mourinho on Saturday lunchtime

Chelsea then suffered a penalty shootout defeat at Stoke in the Capital One Cup but the Liverpool boss is not expecting an easy game, insisting the Chelsea players have not become bad players over night.

'Do the Chelsea players not know how to play football any more? No of course not,' Klopp said during his pre-match press conference on Friday morning.

'I'm not sure it is easy to play against Chelsea. They were full of self-confidence last year so maybe that makes a difference, but to be wounded, sometimes that makes you stronger too.

'I am not sure it is easier to play Chelsea now than last year - why should it be? Okay, being full of self-confidence maybe makes some things different, but to be wounded can make you stronger too.

'They don't feel life is as good as it could be and now they want to change it and that is big motivation.

'But we are motivated too. We have to try something, we have to play - that is what I am looking forward to as it is my first time in the stadium. It is difficult to play against Chelsea but it is not impossible to win.'

The match has top billing this week, but Klopp tried to play down expectations.

'It is a big match but in 15 years in football I've had some big matches,' he said. 'I don't read the newspapers so I don't know what you think about this game but it wouldn't change anything if I knew it because I am full of motivation to win games.

'The better the opponent the more excited the world around us is. Maybe in history it was a great game - now it is ninth versus 15th.

Klopp celebrated his first victory as Liverpool boss on Wednesday night after a 1-0 win against Bournemouth

This will be the fifth time Klopp, who celebrated his first win after Liverpool beat Bournemouth 1-0 on Wednesday, and Mourinho have locked horns, with the German holding the upper hand over his Portuguese rival.

The previous four meetings came in the Champions League with Klopp masterminding two victories with Borussia Dortmund over Mourinho's Real Madrid, including a 4-1 victory in the 2013 semi-final.

Klopp admits there is a mutual respect between the two experienced bosses. 'When I was in Germany, sometimes we sent short messages (to each other),' he said.

'From my side, I am full of respect for his work. I think if you are not a journalist or a referee he can be a nice guy, and I am not one of these so we have a good talk. I like to meet people and he is a nice guy and he was really full of respect during the game.

'He is emotional, I am emotional but we are full of enough respect after the whistle that normal life starts again and you can talk normally about things that happen and that is what we did.

'Everything is okay with us, no problem.'

Christian Benteke came off the bench to score against Southampton at Anfield last week

'From my side I am full of respect for his work. When you are not a journalist or a referee he can be a nice guy.

'He is emotional I am emotional but we have enough respect to know we have a normal lifestyle and everything is OK between us.'

Liverpool's £32.5million summer signing Christian Benteke could make his first start under Klopp after another week of training under his belt.

The Belgian was not involved in midweek after coming off the bench to score against Southampton last Sunday, but Klopp has confirmed he is prepared for Chelsea trip.

Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge remain on the sidelines but Klopp says both are 'much closer' to a return.